Video Village Feature
Kevin Ring
A few weeks ago, Brit walked across the hall to Kevin’s office to bid adieu to her Evolve partner-in-crime and go-to video engineer. Brit sat down and captured what would be deemed the, “Final Interview.”
Kevin, who has been integral to Evolve’s rise as one of the top video rental companies in the industry, has recently departed to disguise. At disguise, Kevin will work on the company’s latest innovations and training efforts.
Kevin continues to an extended member of the Evolve Family, and will be a great resource for Evolve’s future endeavors into XR and immersive related technologies.
Check out Kevin’s featured Video Village interview below:
Covid-19 and 2020 have brought about a lot of change to the industry. How do you think this is going to change purchasing patterns for companies- for both new and used technology?
Purchasing will be very interesting for the next few years as our industry recovers. With advancements of low-cost (and even no-cost) technologies such as VMix, OBS Studio, and even hardware components such as the BlackMagic ATEM, it is going to make it much more difficult to justify the purchase of an expensive piece of equipment. There will always be a need for the “big ticket” items, but users will be much more informed, and do much more research, before making a large purchase. Equipment that can be multi-purposed, and have a long lifespan, will be much more attractive than “fads” or niche products (ie 3D, 8K, etc).
What product categories do you think will grow the most over the next 2 years?
I have always been quite partial to media servers, and I do not foresee any slow down of the technical advancements over the last few years. A server can allow for top quality virtual events as well as live events, and have also been adopted wholeheartedly by the film and TV industry. Whether you need to drive interactive content to a large LED volume, projection map City Hall, or run LED and projection for a corporate General Session, hardware-based media servers will continue to dominate. The hardware is getting more and more powerful, allowing for more inputs, more inputs, and higher quality playback that seemed technically impossible only a few short years ago.
When it comes to purchasing used video, what are some key “must haves” a buyer should look for?
Equipment is only as good as the maintenance performed on it. Similar to a car, a well-maintained (and clean!!!) system will perform much more efficiently over time. Dust and dirt can be an equipment killer. If the fans cannot cool down a system properly due to dust and dirt the equipment will run hotter, and essentially shorten the usable lifespan.
It is also very important to understand the projected lifespan a manufacturer intends for their product. There is a massive amount of used media servers on the market that are now considered obsolete because they run their systems in 32-bit, and the manufacturers now release their software as 64-bit only. While that server still works, it can never be updated. Unfortunately if a deal seems too good to be true, it usually is
How important is it to have one-stop shop (used gear, new gear, rentals, expertise, quality, etc.) for all things Video Village, and why?
Unless you have dedicated your career (and sometimes even life!) to video technology it is near impossible to stay up to date on new equipment, new software/firmware updates, new workflows, and more importantly new caveats (the “oh by the ways”) that can make or break a production.
I like to work with and surround myself with experts in their field. This applies when searching for and working with vendors. Once a relationship is established the benefits are endless. Having an expert on call to assist with everything from CapEx suggestions, gear recommendations for a large event, and of course technical support can be a huge safety net while in the field. A technician nowadays is responsible for so many different aspects of a production, that being able to rely and lean on a partner is invaluable.
Give us your best/most favorite Evolve memory!
There would be too many to recount! I have always loved helping out on our annual Infocomm Tech Forward Breakfasts. It has always been our opportunity to show off, and remind people that we can still pull our weight a little bit in the field. Plus having access to all of our equipment allows us to really go overboard (in the best way) with our engineering!
Whenever a customer comes to Evolve for help on their event, it is usually their largest (and most difficult) event of the year. As a result I have been fortunate to be involved in some very high-end productions, and to see everything come together at the end always makes for fond memories.
Without revealing too much information, and everyone involved will know exactly what I am referring to, but the Evolve Managers Summit 2019 will always hold a special place in my heart.
Will you promise to save your “best” dad jokes for the walls Evolve Technology? Only the “good” dad jokes can go to disguise. 😉
Time will tell. Are any of the jokes actually “good”?
Any last message you’d like to send out to your Academy attendees?
I am so thankful for every student who has ever attended any of my classes. As they will attest my teaching style is quite unique (it’s more impassioned rants than anything else), but no attendee can ever argue that I don’t love what I do.
So for every student of mine: Thank you, thank you, thank you. And don’t forget that pixel (0,0) is a tangible pixel!